An Afghan grandfather’s call for help to reunite his family in Canada

Hadis was separated from his parents at Kabul International Airport in a rush to flee Afghanistan last summer as the Taliban regained power. The child and his grandparents managed to make it to Canada, while his parents and brothers fled to neighboring Pakistan.

They hoped to meet again soon after. But Hadis’ father and mother were denied their temporary resident visas (TRVs) by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) last month after an eight-month wait. Mohad Asef Faqiri now does not know when they will be able to arrive here, and how long his grandson will be able to stay away from his parents.

It is sometimes difficult to take care of him. He cries, he screams. He has nightmaressays Mr. Faqiri, 58 years old.

His parents should be here.

There are many stories that bear witness to the difficulty of bringing Afghan refugees to Canada. Some experts also denounce a certain double standard, compared to Canada’s rapid response to help Ukrainian refugees.

About 16,000 of the approximately 40,000 Afghan nationals Canada has pledged to resettle have arrived since last September, in contrast to the 136,877 temporary resident visas approved for Ukrainian citizens fleeing the Russian invasion between mid-March and mid-June only.

Kimia Moshiri, immigration consultant for the Afghanfar family, explains that the family was only qualified for applications for TRVand following the refusal ofIRCCshe says she sent a request for reconsideration to Minister Sean Fraser, asking for temporary resident permits instead.

This would have allowed them at least to visit Hadis for a short time. However, the decision remained the same, she said.

IRCC failed to consider the best interests of the child in this case, nor did it treat this case in a special way, even though it involves a separated Afghan familywrote Ms. Moshiri in an email.

Why Ukrainians, but not other refugees?

IRCC says it cannot offer comment on individual cases for privacy and security reasons. But in an email to CBC, a spokesperson writes that while the department understands that people may be disappointed by a visa denial, it still needs to maintain certain immigration standards.

When a visa officer refuses an application, it is because the applicant does not meet the requirements set out in Canadian immigration law.

However, the situation between Russia and Ukraine has shown that these requirements can be relaxed and revised in emergency situations, says Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. And that’s a really positive developmentshe notes.

What we are asking is that this way of thinking be extended to other groupsshe continues.

For years, the Canadian Council for Refugees has been calling on the Canadian government to expedite family reunification cases, grant TRV while applicants complete their application for permanent residence and PST to help reunite families in the meantime, and to accept more refugees.

While progress has been made to get Ukrainian refugees to Canada faster, it can’t stop there, Dench says.

This is something that people wonder: why Ukrainians, but not people from Ethiopia, or from Afghanistan or wherever, where there are crisis situations that people are fleeing?

In response to the differential treatment of refugees, IRCC states that the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization is a temporary program and therefore different from the resettlement program for refugees from Afghanistan, since many Ukrainians intend to return to their home country when it is safe to do so .

Although every situation is different, IRCC is always guided by the same values ​​and principles.

Calls for help

According to the refugee council, migrants in general often wait years to be reunited with their families, and often at the expense of their own mental and physical health.

In the case of Hadis, Ms Dench says it may be more difficult to bring her family here because Canadian immigration policy does not include a clear path to reunite a minor who is in Canada with their parents abroad. ‘foreign.

His grandfather Mohad Asef Faqiri is trying to explore other options, but hopes his pleas for help will reach Ottawa and that the federal government can relieve him of the burden of supporting two families – rescuing loved ones caught in a dangerous situation abroad and help a 10-year-old boy struggling to understand why he can’t be with his parents.

I don’t want to complain about this process at all, because there are many people like Hadis who are in a bad situation, especially through the Russian situation… They are human beings, they need help like ushe said.

But I urge the government, and I do urge immigration officials, to help us in this situation.

With information from Vanessa Balintec, CBC